Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically, integrated circuits with inductive bond wires, methods of manufacturing such integrated circuits, and method of transmitting electrical signals in such integrated circuits.
Description of Related Art
The development of the EDVAC computer system of 1948 is often cited as the beginning of the computer era. Since that time, computer systems have evolved into extremely complicated devices. Today's computers are much more sophisticated than early systems such as the EDVAC. Computer systems typically include a combination of hardware and software components, application programs, operating systems, processors, buses, memory, input/output devices, and so on. As advances in semiconductor processing and computer architecture push the performance of the computer higher and higher, more sophisticated computer software has evolved to take advantage of the higher performance of the hardware, resulting in computer systems today that are much more powerful than just a few years ago.
Computer systems today are made up of a number of integrated circuits. Computer processors, computer memory, bus adapters, and the like are implemented as integrated circuits. As clock speeds increase, timing errors have increased. In particular, dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs) have strict timing requirements for operation. Many DIMMs, however, encounter timing errors due to signal degradation, such as jitter and reflection, caused by internal components of the integrated circuit. For example, DIMMs typically include a pad connecting an electrical circuit fabricated on a semiconductor die to a bond wire which in turn is connected to a pin on the DIMM. The pad acts as a capacitor in the circuit. The capacitance of the pad typically introduces signal jitter and signal reflection to signals transmitted in the IC. As mentioned before, such jitter and reflection degrades signal quality to a point where timing errors in the DIMM may occur.